Today was our first day of classes. I have not exercised that hard since I took Dr. Corley’s class back at MU. Kerrie and I kept laughing that we sweat off a few pounds during dance class.
The first dance we are learning is called Gahu. It means “money drum.” The dance got its name because Ghanaian people don’t traditionally spend money on costumes for dances, but when this dance came from the Yorba people of Nigeria, they specified that a certain costume. These costly costumes created the name of the dance.
After we sweat out our breakfast, which was bread and peanut butter with bananas, we were given the treat of young coconut water…. still in the coconut to drink. Needless to say, that was an experience I will not forget. Who knew that there were so many electrolytes in coconut water, more so than Gatorade!! After the coconuts, we had a chance to shower off before going to lunch.
The shower was absolutely crazy. You have to turn the water on and off in between things. I think I was in the shower for a total of 1 minute and a few seconds. Very impressive.
Lunch contained fish, so I just ate the fruit and one of my protein bars, just in case. (So I didn’t have to worry about my allergies acting up.)
After lunch, we went to the market in Denu. The Denu market is open every four days. It is very hectic. They sell all sorts of things, the most pungent of which was fish. Everywhere, there were fish, beans, sugar, and of course batik and kente fabric. That was my big-ticket item, I bought I couple yards in a few patterns of kente cloth, which I later dropped off at a tailor to make me some clothes. So everyone at Spruce Run better get ready for some bright patterns!
When we got back from market, it was time for drum class, where we are learning the drum part for Gahu. We worked mostly on the ahtackhe ( a rattle sometimes referred to as a shakere), gatingo ( like the agago bells), and the kagan ( a small drum with an open bottom). We also learned about the kidi (medium drum with a closed bottom and a small hole in the side), the sogo (which I will be bringing back), and the boba ( the master drum). I got to play all three of the instruments we were focusing on today! Mostly, I played the kagan. The faster they pushed us, the more challenging the rhythmic content got. I was very proud of myself for keeping up and learning all three parts.
Dinner came after drumming: rice and chicken, along with some oranges. After that, around 8:00pm, I had my first small group lesson. We took a dance lesson with Mensah, one of our teachers. The name of the dance is Tokoe and it was a request I had for a dance that my students would be able to learn and perform. So, they will be learning that when I get back! J
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